Spain: how electricity from biogas and biomass is supported — Ro, REER and market prices

Spain supports electricity from biogas and biomass through two routes: the older specific regime for standard installations and the REER auctions. The specific regime consists of investment support and operating support (Ro), and its parameters are set by Orden IET/1045/2014. For power plants whose costs depend on fuel, Ro is updated using the new methodology from Orden TED/526/2024 (of 31 May 2024), applied to values from 1 January 2024. In the October 2022 auction biomass achieved an average of EUR 93.09/MWh.

Legal basis

Ley 24/2013 on the electricity sector allows support frameworks to be created for renewables, cogeneration and waste. This framework was named the specific regime (régimen retributivo específico) and is regulated in Real Decreto 413/2014. Orden IET/1045/2014 approved the parameters of standard installations, including biogas and biomass ones. According to the ministry, over the last ten years the regime has been the main instrument supporting production of energy from renewables, cogeneration and waste.

Two components of support

The regime pays investment support, which covers construction costs, and operating support (Ro), which supplements operating costs not covered by market revenue. Ro matters most for installations whose costs depend on fuel, such as biomass. The methodology for updating Ro was originally set by Orden IET/1345/2015. Real Decreto-ley 23/2020 brought accompanying measures for fuel-dependent installations during the pandemic, while Real Decreto-ley 6/2022 and 10/2022 changed, among other things, how the deviation from the market price is calculated and began a revision of the Ro methodology, which resulted in Orden TED/526/2024 of 31 May 2024, applied to values from 1 January 2024. Real Decreto 376/2022, in turn, added verification of sustainability and emission-reduction criteria for biomass fuels in installations covered by the regime.

REER auctions

Alongside the specific regime there are REER auctions, in which participants submit price bids. In January 2021 the weighted average prices were EUR 24.47/MWh for photovoltaics and EUR 25.31/MWh for wind, and biomass had no dedicated pool. In the third auction, on 25 October 2022, 146 MW of biomass was awarded at a weighted average of EUR 93.09/MWh (from EUR 72.38 to 108.19/MWh). The ministry justified the higher prices by the dispatchability of biomass. See the article on this auction.

Market prices and fuel cost

For biomass generators, the relationship between the market price and the fuel cost is crucial. The association APPA Renovables stated in 2024 that the average market price in April 2024 was EUR 13.67/MWh, in 2022 it was EUR 167.52/MWh, and power plants spend EUR 85–95/MWh on fuel alone. According to APPA, the parameters of Orden TED/526/2024 assumed a biomass price of EUR 58/t against about EUR 70/t in reality. This is the position of an industry organisation. See the article on Orden TED/526/2024.

Changes of autumn 2025

Real Decreto 917/2025 of 15 October 2025 amended art. 11 and 21 of Real Decreto 413/2014: it clarified the calculation of equivalent operating hours and operating support for hybrid modules with energy storage. See the article on this change. Orden TED/1252/2025 of 27 October 2025 amended art. 13 of Orden TED/526/2024: it added para. 3 bis with a minimum quarterly value of the cash-flow deviation for standard biomass installations, calculated from theoretical support values. The order was published in the BOE of 7 November 2025. The reason was practical: the previous wording limited the monthly adjustment to the sum of investment and operating support received, and those amounts could later change in settlements.

How to compare with the market

In Spain there is no single rate per MWh as in Polish reference prices: support depends on the parameters of the standard installation and the current market price, and in auctions on the bid. For orientation, it can be set against reference prices in the Polish 2023 RES auctions, bearing in mind the different mechanism. The second route, namely biomethane, is described in the article Nortegas: financing for biomethane plants in Spain.